The Kettler Ab Roller is a small abdominal exercise tool that you lie on to do crunches. The ab roller has a curved bar to support your neck, and another bar above your chest that you can push against with your arms. It is supposed to ensure that you do crunches with correct form so that you do not strain your neck, but it actually makes crunches easier because you can roll and use momentum to crunch up; plus you can use your arms to push yourself up instead of your abs. It is still possible to strain your neck, but if you use the Kettler Ab Roller correctly, it can work your abs.
Step 1
Lie on the floor with your neck resting on the black pad attached to the lower bar. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor hip-width apart. Point your feet forward so that they are parallel to each other. Reach up and grab the top bar with your arms straight. Position your hands shoulder-width apart with your palms facing forward.
Step 2
Contract your ab muscles. Pull your belly button in as if you are trying to suck your stomach to the floor. Your stomach should be flat. If you are not contracting your abs, your stomach will round slightly as you crunch. It is easy to do crunches incorrectly if you do not learn to contract your abs.
Step 3
Crunch your shoulders up off the floor. The Kettler Ab Roller will roll forward as you crunch up, so be sure to keep your abs contracted to avoid using the rolling motion of the ab roller to get your shoulders up off the floor. Move with control and try to relax your arms. Keep your neck relaxed back against the pad. If you pull your neck off the pad, you can hurt it.
Step 4
Roll back down to the floor to finish one repetition. Look up at the rep counter on the ab roller to check that it recorded your crunch.
Step 5
Do as many crunches as you can until your stomach muscles are tired. The Kettler Ab Roller will make the exercise a lot easier, so do not stop after you have done your usual amount of crunches. Also, your arms will be aiding you as you crunch up, and it is hard to tell how much ab work you are actually doing without cheating and using your arms. Keep going until your abs are tired. See how many reps you have done, and then try to do a second set of that number of reps after a 90-second rest.
Things You'll Need
- Ab roller
References
- Ab Roller Owner's Manual: Tristar Products Inc.
- Ab-Core-and-Stomach-Exercises.com: Ab Rollers
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